Adjustable guide for sliding doors



Feb. 24, 1931 F. L. FRY

ADJUSTABLE GUIDE FOR SLIDING DOORS Filed Feb. 3. 1930 Patented Feb. 24, 1931 i ream; LAWRENCE FRY, or Mmsmmown, Iowa ADJUSTABLE GUIDE non SLIDING DOORS Application filed February 3,1930. Serial No. 425,466.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved guide for sliding ClOOISWhlCll is adjustable tocompensate for variations in the a thickness or position of the door.

A further object of the invention is to pro ride an improved adjustable'guide fora slidingfdoor in which a curvedniember is held in position by a wedge-sha ied locking piece in: such manner that the door may be firmly gripped and held irrespective of variations in the thickness or position ofthe outer surface of the door dueto changes causedby atmospheric conditions, presence of moisture,

or other causes.

Another object is, to provide an arrangelnent of parts whereby aboxcar door may be movedeasilyhnd treelylwhen desired, without the useot tools, thus avoiding dam ageto parts which are ordinarily broken in; forcingthe door, and at the sametimepermitting the door to be held securely and t ghtly in place when closedLy n j j \Vith these and other objects in View, any inventionconsists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illus, trated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective viewillustrating the various parts of my improved guide prior to assembly. Q

Figure 2 is a horizontalsection through a portion of a railway carequipped with two of my improved adjustable guides and with other guides of the old rigid type. Figure 3 is a vertical section through one of the adjustable guides substantially on line S 30f Figure 2.

F'gure t is a vert cal section through one of the guides and a portionof a doorengaged thereby,,takensubstantially online 4+4 of Figure 3. j a

My improved guide is particularly designed forruse in connection with the sliding doors of railway freight carswhich are exposed to the weather and to greatly varying atmospheric and moisture conditions, and are frequentlythe cause of considerable trouble and annoyance in operation.

In the drawings I have illustrated a portion of a wall of arailway car having a door-opening 12 adapted to be closedby a door 14 suspended at its top froina track not shoi vn. In Figure 2 I haveshowli the wall 10 as beingequipped withthree guides otthe oldor rigid type, each of said guides includ-, ing a bracket '16 and a curved guide member 18 rigidly carried thereby and adapted to en gage thelower marginal portion of the door 14, It isobvious that unless the curved guide member 18 is so arranged? as to contact quite closely with the outersurface of the door, the door will be capable of considerable swinging movement. i

n It is also to be noted that if the guides are so arranged as to fit snugly to the door under normal conditions, that considerable trouble may be experienced in case the door 14 should warp or swell on account of ex cess ve moisture. TooVercome this dit ficulty, Iliave provided myadjustable guides which may be used either alone or in connec tionwitli the old type as shown. 1 j The adjustable guide includes a bracket having a base portion 20 which. forms an innerguide forRthe door. The base portion 20tis formed with apertirresQQ; to receive bolts or other suitable fastening means by which the bracket may be mounted on the wall 10. The base member 20 may also be formed at its lower margin with a clownwardly opening slot24 to receive abolt 26 or other fastening member. As here shown, the slotted portion of the base 20 iscovm'ed by a downwardly opening hood 28 which covers the heady ot the bolt 26 and adds strength to the structure. a i a The base 20 is formed with a pairo't outwardly projecting parallel cars 30 and 32 and these cars are formed respectively with hori zontally arranged elongated slot openings an and 36. The ears 30 and 32 are spaced somewhat from the upper margin of the base portion 20 and preferably are joinedat the 1 lower margins to the top of the hood 28.

Anouterguide member 38 is separately formed and this guide memberis concavo- The guide member 38 is formedwith a centrally arranged lug 40 projecting radially from its convex surface and adapted to be received between the spaced ears and 32. The lug is formed with a slot opening 42 adapted to register with the openings 34 and136. f. I

' A wedge-shaped securing member 44is'provided and is adapted-to be inserted through the slots 36, 42, and 34 for the purpose of adj ustably holding the outer giri'demeinber 38 in place. It will be noted thatthe securing member 44 is relatively narrow at its initial end and is widenedin a horizontal plane toward the other end which preferably terminates in an enlargement or head 46. r

The parts of the-device are assembled by inserting the lug 40 of the outer guide mem;

b'er between the ears30 and 32, and then plac ,ing the wedge-shaped securing member 44 in V 'ositionby extending ..itthrough the slots 3'6; 42, and'34. Means preferably is pro- Wedge-shaped vided for preventing a complete withdrawal of the securingmember 44 and such means may constitute a rivet or the like 48 extending through the aperture in the smaller end 'of'the' member .44.v The member 48, of course, is placed in position after the securing member 44 has been mounted in place;

It is obvious that the spacing of the convex surface of the outer guide. member 38 from the base p'ortion'or inner guide memher-'20, will be determinedby the position the wedge-shaped securing member 44: In

other words, the'member 44 may be'adjusted longitudinally 'inxthe. slots to ad ust' -th'c lateral capacity of the guide. r Y When it'is desiredto move the door 14 on its track, the wedge-shaped securing w nemhere 44 ofthe adjustableguides may be loosened, thus permitting free andeasy travel of'the door within said guides. fWh'en the door is :in'the desired position, the adjustable guides may be tightened by driving :the securing members" 44 home with a hammer or similar tool and the wedg-v in g action will cause the convex-surfacesof the curved iguidemembers 38 to tightly enand thus gage the outer surface of the door OSCllprevent any undesirable swinging or lation.

It mav be convenient to, use'on agiven instal'latio ii severalof the old type of rigid guides and these guides maybe of sufiicient lateral width to permit i'reepassage (of. the door 14 under all conditions which may be encountered T0, supplement the rigid guides, it maybe found desirable tense one ortmore of the adjustable guides forengaging the door when in closed position and one or more forengagingthe door when in open position. This arrangement will permit free travel ofthe-door at all times and under all conditions upon: loosening the wedgeshaped securing members 44 and will also permit the door to be firmly held ineither of its positions by tightening up said wedge members when the doorhas been set in its place.

The head 46 and the retaining member 48 of the wedge-shaped securing member serve to prevent complete withdrawal of said member ,andthus prevent the possibility of misplacing or losing it. v I V 7 Some changes'may be made in the arrangement and construction of the various parts of my adjustable "guide" for sliding doors 1 without departing from the real spirit and purpose ot' my invention, and it is my intention .to cover. bymy claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope. v V V 1 I claim as my invention: r j

1. An adjustable guide for sliding doors, comprising. abase portionadapted to be secured to a wall,.a pair of spaced slottedears projecting from said base portion, an outer guide member iormedwith a laterally projecting lug adapted to be received between said ears andhaving aslotarranged to register with the slots thereofl'and a wedge-shaped securing member slidably .mounted in the slots of said ears and'lug for adjusting the spacing of said guide member relative to the base. J I T j 2. An adjustable guide for sliding doors, comprising a base portionadapted tobe sccured'to a wall,1a}pair,of spaced slotted ears projecting fro'm said base portion, an outer -gu1de' member tormedwith a laterallyprd jec ting' lug adapted to bereceived between said ears and having a slot arranged to regis member having a convex face, a lug projecting vlaterally from the convex faceot' said gu de memberand adapted to be received be tween said ears,"said lug'being formed with a slot adapted to register with-the slots of said; ears, and a wedge-shaped securingmember shdably mounted through the slots of said ears and lug foradjus'tably holding the ,1

outer guide member relative to the. base.

Des'Moines, Iowa, January 22,1950. FRANK LAWRENCE FRY. 

